Takeheart Health Check      

(353) CARE study data. Lowering cholesterol reduces risk of further coronary events in patients who have had myocardial infarct. Other benefits too. 24% reduction in fatal coronary disease; 25% lower rate of coronary bypass surgery; 31% lower incidence of stroke.

(354) Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial. After 10 years there was an 11.4% lower mortality rate for the Special Intervention men. We are right to keep reinforcing the message of diet, smoking, BP

(355*) The WOSCOPS primary prevention study. Pravastatin reduces mortality and morbidity in moderately hypercholesterolaemic Scottish men.

(356*) A single side of A4 about cholesterol.

(357) 1.8 x 10 million person years. Regular moderate drinking is beneficial. "Strong inverse association" between alcohol intake and coronary heart disease. Not particularly strong for any one type of drink.

(358) 8,000 men followed up for 15 years. Lived to celebrate 75th birtday:- 42% who started smoking by 20 and who never stopped. 78% of those who never smoked.

(359) Smoking > 20/day doubles the risk of age-related macular degeneration.

(360) Further evidence of plaque diminution in those subjects consuming a mainly plant based diet.

(361) Ditto

(362) Human resources on the Internet.

(363*) St Bartholomew's Hospital. 473 patients receiving dietary advice from practice nurses, 483 receiving "usual care". Advice group mean drop in serum cholesterol 0.2 compared with controls. 0.56kg fall in weight in intervention group.

(364*) Summary of who to test and who to treat with what.

(369) Between 1980/90 the United States coronary death rate fell by 34% (Harvard Medical School). 70% of the overall decline in mortality occurred in patients with pre-existing disease. 25% of the decline was due to primary prevention and improvements in cholesterol levels explained at least a third of the reduction.

(370*) "There is no longer any controversy about what to do for these patients (high cholesterol after myocardial infarct) and no justification for inertia". "Conservatism in primary prevention is still justified".

(371*) "Low control in the work environment is associated with an increased risk of future coronary heart disease among men and women employed in government offices. The cumulative effect of low job control assessed on two occasions indicates that giving employees more variety in tasks and a stronger say in decisions about work may decrease the risk of coronary heart disease". (full text)

(372) In the first Whitehall study men in the lower grades of the British civil service had nearly 3 times the 14 year risk of mortality from coronary heart disease compared with men in the higher grades.

(373) Evidence of increased risk of coronary heart disease by passive smoking. 32,000 United States nurses followed for 10 years. 60% greater risk in those occasionally exposed. Twice the risk for those regularly exposed.

(374) Little benefit in health promotion for coronary heart disease. A meta analysis. (full text)

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(378*) "We just want those cruising the information superhighway to be able to tell them (the 1,000 flowers which bloom) from the weeds." Authorship, Attribution, Disclosure and Currency are the core standards.

(382) Regular exposure to second hand tobacco smoke nearly doubles the risk of heart disease. 121,000 nurses studied since 1976.

(383*) It is possible to have a cost effective impact on coronary heart disease lifestyle risk factors in a population of adults .

(388) Passive smoking, meta analysis. Non-smokers who live with smokers have 30% greater risk of coronary heart disease at the age of 65 than those not exposed to tobacco smoke. Equivalent to one cigarette a day.

(400) "They call stress the executive disease, but it's not the boardroom that's suffering from it, but the bored rooms of people with no variety in their routines, and no say in how they spend their days. Heart disease is much more prevalent on the shop floor than the top floor."